Decoration of the human body has been commonplace in most human cultures. Societies from the most primitive in technological development to the most sophisticated by today's standards tolerate, if not promote, such decoration. The first efforts at adorning the human body were generally believed to involve the use of clays and ash to add coloration to the human body. The use of stains or dyes from flora was also used early in the development of primitive societies. These types of adornment were used for various purposes including recognition of status, signalling of marital intent or status, enhancing attractiveness to suitors, providing religious and ceremonial markings, and creation of a fearsome or frightening visage.
These types of decorations tended to be rather crude, consisting of course lines and designs. The materials used were not always readily available and the toxicological, allergenic, and bacterialogical properties of the materials tended to lack control. As societies become more sophisticated, decorations of the body, other than jewelry which could be readily added and removed, tend to become specific for different areas of the body. For example, more permanent and durable coloring solutions were used on the nails of the hands and feet, brightly colored waxes were used on the lips, tacky powders were used on the cheeks, and thick dark oil or graphite based materials were used around the eyes. These types of standardized decorations are still used in modified forms today.
More stylized or artistic decorations of the human body have always been desired by certain portions of society. Tattoos have been used as decorations of the human body for many centuries. Tattoos developed from the techniques of scarring the body to form patterns or images by texturizing the flesh of a person. The scarring formed raised areas in the skin from deep abrasion and cutting of the skin. It was probably noted after the use of dirty or colored scarring tools that coloration of the scarred flesh occurred. Purposeful addition of colorants forced under the skin by tools then followed. Modern tattoos use medical quality needles to inject non-fugitive dyes and pigments in subcutaneous patterns which are visible. The process of applying tattoos is both painful and costly, and the image is permanent.
A number of tattoo imitations have been developed to give the appearance of detailed skin or body images without the permanency or pain involved with tattoos. The three major types of substitutes include transferable dye images, painted images, and decal images. Painted images of any quality require the artistic efforts of a painter to provide a good quality image. They are relatively expensive, but provide an infinite variety of high quality images. Transferable dye images can imitate body tattoos fairly well. Usually water-soluble dyes painted on a substrate in a pattern or image are transferred by wetting the pattern or image and then pressing the wetted dyes against the skin, transferring them to the skin. This method tends to produce streaked, smeared and partial images. The dyes are water-soluble and will run and streak easily from perspiration or other liquids. Decal tattoo imitations comprise a printed image on a substrate with an adhesive material on the other side of the substrate. These decals tend to look highly artificial. The available decal body tattoos which have been marketed successfully for many years appear little better than bandaids with printed images on them.